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Named
after the retired President of Duke Power, Norman Atwater
Cocke, Lake Norman, was created in 1963 with the completion
of the Cowan's Ford Dam. The Cowan's Ford Dam was the largest
and last in the series of dams built on the Catawba River
by the Duke Power Company. The Duke Power Company, originally
the Southern Power Company, was founded in 1905 by James B.
Duke and his brother Benjamin as a way to generate economical
hydroelectric power for their textile factories. Within two
decades, their power facilities had been greatly expanded
and they were supplying electricity to more than 300 cotton
mills and other industrial companies. In 1927, the Southern
Power Company became the Duke Power Company and by 1928 had
completed a series of 10 dams along the Catawba River. The
ground breaking for Cowan's Ford Dam took place on September
28, 1959. It took four years to finish the dam and another
two years to fill Lake Norman. Prior to the opening of I-77
in the 1970s, access to Lake Norman was limited and lake lots
were for sale for $1,000 with very few takers. Most communities
existed along I-21 and Hwy 115 and the land around Lake Norman
was largely used for farming. With the opening of I-77, the
Lake Norman Area has steadily developed into what it is today.
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